Maybach - history of brand

Stuttgart, May 22, 2002
"Lighter than air" - Count Zeppelin's dream of flying becomes a reality on July 2, 1900 at eight o'clock in the evening. After many years of hard work and lengthy negotiations to win over the bureaucrats, military officers and engineers who viewed his plans as completely unrealistic, this summer's evening sees the first "zeppelin" depart on its maiden flight from Manzell on the banks of Lake Constance. The giant form, measuring 128 metres in length and propelled by two Daimler engines, remains airborne for 18 minutes and proves conclusively that Zeppelin's vision of a rigid airship that can be steered does actually work.

Just three months later, the LZ 1 even completes a flight of 90 minutes duration over Lake Constance; however not even an imperial medal and words of highest praise are able to prevent Zeppelin's "Gesellschaft zur Forderung der Luftschifffahrt" ("Society for the Promotion of Airship Travel") from having to file for bankruptcy barely two-and-a-half years later. The former general from Wurttemberg had been unable to convince the government in distant Berlin of the soundness of his plans, and thereby lacked the support of the largest potential financial backer for such a project.

Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, born on July 8, 1838 in Constance, refuses to give up though. In Wurttemberg, a lottery is staged to provide him with the funds to build a second airship. The LZ 2 takes off successfully on January 17, 1906, but the Count's venture runs into more misfortune; the airship is caught by a strong westerly wind and is blown off course. To make things worse, one of the two engines fails, forcing the airship's commander to order an emergency landing in the Allgau in Southern Germany. A storm in the night then destroys the airship beyond repair.

It is only the third project that really "gets off the ground": the LZ 3, financed with Zeppelin's own money and donations from private investors, takes off on October 9, 1906 and stays airborne for two hours. The whole of Germany is caught up by the success.

Lightweight engines from Maybach's design office in Cannstatt

In Cannstatt, at the headquarters of the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG), the unwavering commitment of the airship pioneer has been observed with great interest right from the start. Long before the LZ 1's maiden flight, Count Zeppelin had been invited to Cannstatt to persuade him of the high quality of the powerplants produced there, and in particular of their low weight, which Maybach was continually trimming by using revolutionary lightweight materials. It comes as no huge surprise therefore when the first zeppelins take off powered by Daimler engines. Two four-cylinder units, each developing just 14.7 hp, are fitted to the LZ 1 (1900), while six years later, the LZ 2 and LZ 3 are each propelled by two 85-hp engines. Featuring magneto make-and-break ignition as well as an array of other technical highlights, they bear the mark of the design maestro Wilhelm Maybach.

On the occasion of his visit to Cannstatt, Count Zeppelin and Wilhelm Maybach had met for the first time – it was only a brief encounter, but one that neither of them would forget, and which many years later was to form the basis for an intensive commercial relationship.

Count Zeppelin constructs his fourth airship between 1907 and 1908 using the proceeds from a second zeppelin lottery. The new model is 136 metres long, 13 metres in diameter and is powered by two 105-hp Daimler engines. In July 1908, LZ 4 sets off towards Switzerland for a test flight, and returns to Lake Constance some twelve hours later, signalling an out-and-out success. Count Zeppelin becomes a national hero overnight, and a total of three German universities confer an honorary doctorate on him.

Yet the Prussian governmental authorities in Berlin, who have in the meantime agreed to finance the airship project, call for further proof of its capabilities in the form of a 24-hour non-stop flight covering a distance of at least 700 kilometres. The whole of Europe is gripped as the airship takes off on the morning of August 4, 1908 at 6 a.m. After passing Basel, the airship is headed for Mainz when the first technical problems are encountered late afternoon. "The gas suddenly cooled down and as only one engine was actually running – the other had been rendered inoperable after a small wheel broke, with replacement of the part taking too long just when it really mattered – there wasn't enough engine power to overcome the downforce we were now experiencing. There was no stopping the descent and we had to drop right down to the Rhine" reports Count Zeppelin on the events that led up to his forced emergency landing near Oppenheim.

Ballast is unloaded, and the LZ 4 is able to resume its journey as evening closes in. The Count is under pressure to succeed, not wanting to disappoint the enthusiastic crowds which cheer him on during the journey. The turning point in Mainz is reached, but then the front engine fails completely, and the airship makes little headway against the strong wind. Over Echterdingen, just to the South of Stuttgart, the crew decides to land for a second time and to summon assistance from the technicians stationed at the nearby Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft. "Then, an untimely gale suddenly blew up from the side and carried the airship away," explains the Count as he describes the dramatic events which unfolded at about three o'clock in the afternoon. The LZ 4 is blown off course, "jumps a kilometre" than catches fire and crashes, watched by hundreds of onlookers. The hydrogen gas burns up completely within just ten seconds, to leave nothing but a heap of scrap aluminium metal.

National donations for the future of the zeppelins

The accident of August 5, 1908 becomes a national cause. Following the tragedy, the Count's popularity soars higher than it had ever been before. Thousands of people write to the aviation pioneer, encourage him to continue and donate their savings. A "national fund" is initiated with active participation from banks, industrialists and national organisations in an effort to inject some pace back into the airship industry. Even Emperor William II is moved to send a telegraph to Count Zeppelin informing him that "sufficient monies have been collected to guarantee the manufacture of a new airship for you." The donation rally amasses an incredible sum of six million German gold marks, enough to finance the building of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH airship construction company based in Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance, and to set up the "Zeppelin Foundation".

Letter from the engine design maestro

The hundreds of letters sent to Count Zeppelin at this time include one penned by Wilhelm Maybach, who had already quit his post at DMG on April 1, 1907. In his letter, the great designer expresses his deepest regret that "the engines did not fulfil their duty and that you Excellency had to endure enormous grief as a result." At the same time though, Maybach is also keen to stress that for some time he had no longer had influence over engine design at DMG. Yet "in the interests of the nation" he draws the Count's attention to "an innovation in the field of engines" which is "capable of offering the greatest imaginable degree of safety."

The new design concept is the work of Maybach's son Karl. It is "an engine whose every component has been devised and designed ….. to make it particularly suitable for continuous power output," allowing it to offer "maximum safety for motorised airship travel."

The Count's response is exuberant: he arranges to meet Wilhelm Maybach, listens to Maybach explain the technical details of the new engine, and then founds his own engine firm, Luftfahrzeug-Motorenbau GmbH, as a subsidiary of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH on March 23, 1909. The new company has its headquarters in Bissingen an der Enz, with Karl Maybach at the helm as technical director. Wilhelm Maybach, now aged 62, stays more in the background, but still acts in an advisory capacity. When the firm relocates to new factory buildings in Friedrichshafen in 1912, operating under the new name of Motorenbau Friedrichshafen GmbH, Wilhelm Maybach acquires a 40-percent stake in the firm together with his son. Six years later, on May 16, 1918, the firm's name is changed again to be finally called Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH.

Premiere of the first Maybach six-cylinder engine in the LZ 6

The first Maybach engine, bearing the designation "AZ", is built for the LZ 6 and is ready for operation in 1910. The six-cylinder units develops 145 hp. To allow maintenance or repair to be carried out during flight using simple tools, Karl Maybach develops six individual cylinders attached with tensioning clamps, featuring vertically arranged valves driven via two camshafts. A special feature is the new float-free spray carburettor which continues to function even when tilted heavily to one side. But that is not all: thanks to a variable main nozzle invented by Maybach and a new ignition timing unit, lean burning of the air/fuel mixture reduces fuel consumption by up to 15 percent during normal flight – a notable achievement which greatly enlarges the operating radius of the zeppelins. The fledgling engine company is also taking off on the commercial side: licenses for the dependable AZ powerplant are soon being sold to Italy, Japan and England.

Maybach's next engine bears the initials "CX", producing 210 hp and tipping the scales at "only" 410 kilograms, making it 15 kilograms lighter than the previous model. Maybach unveils the new engine on the occasion of Count Zeppelin's 75th birthday on July 8, 1913. Under the management of the Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-Aktien-Gesellschaft (DELAG), the counts' airships are now regularly making passenger flights and covering greater and greater distances. "I close my eyes and can feel again that sensation of floating lightly and gently through the air," writes Hermann Hesse - who went on later to win the Noble prize for literature - after one such flight. He enthuses, "I know for certain that as soon as I find an opportunity to fly again, I will do it with the very greatest of pleasure."

Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin dies on March 8, 1917, the boom year for his airship construction business. The construction yards in Friedrichshafen, Potsdam and Staaken are turning out up to two zeppelins a month, which are all placed under the command of the military as Europe is at war.

The terms of the Peace Treaty of Versailles means the airship industry in Germany faces an uncertain future after the war is over. The DELAG resumes flights on its 7-hour passenger route from Berlin to Friedrichshafen and even sends its Z 120 "Bodensee" ("Lake Constance") airship, equipped with 260-hp Maybach engines, on a long-haul flight to Stockholm in October 1919, but a short time later, all airships have to be surrendered to the Allied Forces.

Over 1.6 million kilometres with five Maybach twelve-cylinder engines

This development also forces the Friedrichshafen-based Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH to turn its attention to other sectors, namely the car industry. The firm only resumes delivery of zeppelin powerplants in 1924 with engines for the LZ 126, which is supplied to the USA as a form of reparation payment, thereby securing the continued existence of the German airship construction industry.

During 1927 and 1928 construction takes place of the legendary "Graf Zeppelin" (LZ 127); this airship makes headlines in 1929 when it flies around the world, before entering scheduled service in 1931, flying between Europe and South America. All of its five gondolas house newly designed twelve-cylinder Maybach engines, each developing a peak output of 570 hp, which allow a maximum speed of up to 125 km/h at full power. The airship, measuring 237 metres in length and weighing 58 tons, completes almost 600 flights, covering a total distance of 1.6 million kilometres. The "Graf Zeppelin" touches down a total of 74 times in Rio de Janeiro.

On March 19, 1936, the "Hindenburg" (LZ 129) airship enters operation for the Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei shipping company and successfully completes 55 long-haul flights by the end of the same year. For the first time, propulsion is provided by diesel-powered engines manufactured by Daimler-Benz. On May 3, 1937, the "Hindenburg" sets off from Frankfurt/Main with 36 passengers on board for its first flight across the North Atlantic, and reaches New York three days later at 2 p.m. local time. Due to stormy weather, the "Hindenburg" is unable to land immediately at the Lakehurst naval air station as planned, but has to wait circling for some three hours first. Crew members are eventually able to drop the landing lines at around 6:20 p.m. In almost the same instant, fire breaks out at the rear and spreads at an alarming rate. Some 180,000 cubic metres of hydrogen gas (helium was still not available at the time in Germany) ignite, and just 37 seconds later the magnificent "zeppelin" is reduced to a smouldering heap of wreckage. 36 people perish in the catastrophe.

Almost 37 years after the maiden flight of the LZ 1, this aviation tragedy signals the end of civilian zeppelin airship transport.

Zeppelin museum in Friedrichshafen

The world's largest airship exhibition

At the Zeppelin Museum In Friedrichshafen, the memory of the airships and their hugely popular designer alive is kept vividly alive. It boasts the world's largest airship exhibition, covering an area of some 3500 square metres; since its opening in July 1996, it has already attracted almost two million visitors.

The exhibition's main attraction is a full-size replica of a starboard section of the celebrated LZ 129 "Hindenburg", the largest airship in the world. A rope ladder takes visitors to the zeppelin's 'B' Deck where the bar and smoking room are to be found. Above this, on the 'A' deck, visitors can see the passenger cabins and lounge with its 15-metre long panoramic window.

Scale models of other airships, including many designs from outside Germany which went into production long before the zeppelins, illustrate the varying construction principles used for the giants of the air. The exhibition rooms of the Zeppelin Museum provide detailed information about the different lightweight materials which were used for the framework of the airships, including special alloys such as zinc/aluminium, zinc/aluminium/copper as well as duraluminium, about the engines, the propellers, the radio and navigation systems and various other technical features of the zeppelins. Extra information and contemporary background information is given in the forms of films, diagrams, photos, texts and 30 interactive computer terminals.

The exhibit showing an original engine gondola with the powerful Maybach twelve-cylinder "VL 2" powerplant taken from the 1928 LZ 127 "Count Zeppelin" allows visitors to enjoy a highly authentic slice of engineering history. One of the Daimler diesel engines which propelled the LZ 129 "Hindenburg" is also on show.

Visitors can also pay an interesting and educational visit to the section of the museum which tells more about the companies which have at some point been founded as subsidiaries of the Zeppelin Group, including MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH, which succeeded the Maybach-Motorenbau firm, Zeppelin GmbH, manufacturer of construction machinery, and the Zahnradfabrik Friedrichshafen AG (ZF), which produces steering systems and transmissions. These and other firms spawned by the airship construction company still employ thousands of people in and around Friedrichshafen today.

An art exhibition is located on the third floor which provides a general overview of how art and culture have developed from mediaeval times to the present day. It also forges a link between the history of art and technological history, thereby reconciling two fields which appear at first glance to be quite distinct from one another.

Zeppelin Museum in Friedrichshafen
Seestrasse 22
D-88045 Friedrichshafen, Germany
Tel.: +49 7541 38010;

www.zeppelin-museum.de

Open Tuesday - Sunday between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.
from May to October and between 10 a.m. and
5 p.m. from November to April. Closed Mondays.

©DaimlerChrysler